British Prime Minister Keir Starmer took time out from dealing with his own sticky political situation to congratulate his favorite soccer team, Arsenal, on winning the Premier League.
“22 long years for the Arsenal,” Starmer posted on X soon after the title was clinched late Tuesday. “But finally, we’re back where we belong.
“Champions!”
For Starmer, a lifelong Arsenal fan, the victory was rare good news at a time when he is clinging to power after woeful results for his Labour Party in local and regional elections on May 7.
Dozens of Labour lawmakers have called for him to resign, a member of his Cabinet has quit, and a popular rival, Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham, is running for a seat in Parliament so he can potentially challenge Starmer for the party leadership.
On this occasion, London got the better of Manchester, with Arsenal outlasting big rival Man City to win the biggest prize in English soccer for the first time since 2004.
The new champions and thousands of Arsenal fans celebrated into the night, with midfielder Eberechi Eze posting pictures on his Instagram account up to 5 a.m. local time.
One showed Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard leaning his head back with an Arsenal-branded bottle in his mouth, likely a nod to those critics who accused the team of being “bottlers” — a British term for collapsing under pressure — after three straight runner-up finishes in the Premier League and no major trophy since 2020.
Odegaard will be lifting the Premier League trophy after the away match against Crystal Palace on Sunday, the final day of the league season. Arsenal’s players will parade the trophy in north London on May 31 — the day after competing in the Champions League final against Paris Saint-Germain, making it a possible double celebration.
There was footage on social media of many Arsenal players, including Eze, Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka and Jurrien Timber, walking around the club’s Emirates Stadium home as the sun came up early Wednesday.
Members of the squad had earlier gathered at the club’s training ground to watch the Bournemouth-City match. When it was confirmed Arsenal was the new champion, Saka and Timber headed to a blacked-out Premier League trophy that Arteta had installed at the training base and which would light up only when the Gunners won the title.
“Light that up,” Saka said in a video posted by Timber on Instagram. “Let me tell you something — 22 years, 22 years. There was laughing. There was joking. They aren’t laughing anymore.
“Look, it’s going to be shining, it’s going to be shining bright.”
Former Arsenal players were soaking it all in, too.
Ian Wright was seen popping Champagne outside the Emirates surrounded by fans on Tuesday night.
Thierry Henry, a member of the club’s last league title-winning team — the “Invincibles from 2004,” thanked the new generation.
“Finally,” Henry wrote, ”now my kids saw us winning the league.”
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Associated Press writer Jill Lawless in London contributed to this story.
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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
